How to protect yourself when shopping online if the seller disappears

The problem with online shopping is never the first time. It's the twentieth. The first twenty times everything goes smoothly, you convince yourself the risk is exaggerated, you lower your guard. The twenty-first time you get scammed, and the worst part is that, looking back calmly, all the signs were there, from the language of the ad to the requested payment method.

The checklist I use is basic, but I go over it every time. One: does the seller have a profile with history, with dated reviews, not all from this month? Two: are the item photos unique or have I just seen identical ones in another ad? Three: is the price consistent with the market or is it so low that it's suspicious? Four: what payment method do they propose? If even one answer is shaky, I stop.

If you buy something that needs to be shipped, tracked shipping is your best friend. Not so much because it shows you where the package is, but because it gives you objective proof if it arrives empty or doesn't arrive at all. Refusing to ship with tracking is a small sign that something isn't right.

The moment of delivery is when negotiations most often fall apart. The buyer wants to see the ticket before paying, the seller wants the money before handing it over. Protected online payment solves exactly this problem: funds are held in protected payment, the seller delivers calmly, the buyer verifies, and only then does the money change hands.

A mental test I always recommend is asking yourself: if this transaction went wrong, would I have the economic and psychological strength to move on as if nothing happened? If the answer is no, then that item or ticket is too important to be left to the good intentions of a stranger. You need tools that truly protect you, not just trust.

The right of withdrawal, in online purchases, is a powerful but not universal protection. It applies to purchases from professionals, with fourteen days to change your mind. It does not apply, unless otherwise stated, to purchases between private individuals: what you buy from another user is not protected by the same right, and this is one of the first things we should teach anyone entering the secondary market.

There are no serious shortcuts, unfortunately. The only things that truly work, after years of stories collected, are calm in evaluating the other party, a payment method with real protection, and a written record of everything that has been said.